NEW DELHI: A dying declaration, considered a vital piece of evidence to nail a murder accused, needs to be in question-and-answer form and the victim should be in a fit state of mind while voluntarily making the statement, the Supreme Court said on Thursday. The observation came as the court upheld a Rajasthan High Court order acquitting murder accused Wakteng. The HC had noted that the dying declaration of the victim, Thanu, was not recorded in question-and-answer form and it was not specified as a "dying declaration". Though the trial court had also discarded the tag of dying declaration to the victim's statement, it had relied upon it as a piece of evidence supporting the prosecution charge against Wakteng. The apex court Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and D K Jain, while rejecting the state's appeal against the HC judgment, said the fitness of the victim's mental faculties holds the key to the reliability of the dying declaration. It was conscious of an earlier decision of the court allowing departure from the general rule that a magistrate alone should record the dying declaration provided the prosecution witnesses, preferably a doctor, certified that the victim was fit enough to make the statement. "Great solemnity and sanctity is attached to the words of a dying man because on the verge of death he is not likely to tell a lie or to concoct a case so as to implicate an innocent person, but the court has to be careful to ensure that the statement was not the result of either tutoring, prompting or a product of imagination," Justice Pasayat said, writing the judgment for the Bench.
Source:- The Times of India 8 June 2007
For any Querry:-
deepakmiglani@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment